MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces systematically use heavy artillery for bombardments of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, mostly in the evening, the spokesman for the republic’s Defence Ministry, Eduard Basurin, said on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian forces continue to use heavy artillery primarily in the evening, in defiance of the Minsk Accords. However, the Donetsk Forces display restraint and refrain from reacting to provocations," he said.

Earlier, the Donetsk Republic’s Defence Ministry said Kiev’s forces had violated ceasefire 40 times over the previous 24 hours.

"The most active artillery, mortar and tank gun fire attacks were mounted on the villages of Shirokino, Sakhanka and Gorlovka, where 20 explosions of 152 mm shells, 36 explosions of tank gun-fired shells and 90 explosions of 120 mm and 82 mm mortar shells have been registered," the Donetsk News Agency quotes Basurin as saying.

He acknowledged that the situation in the republic remained complicated and strained. In the 40 registered bombardments of the Donetsk Republic’s territory Kiev’s forces fired a total of 220 shots (with artillery pieces, mortars, tanks armoured personnel carriers, grenade launchers and small arms), mostly with mortars (141 shots).